A Bunch of Different Ways to Have Fun

By Michele A. Berdy

Razvlechenie, zabava, vesele, udovolstvie, shutkazh: fun.

One of the first words Russians pick up in America is "fun." After about the third day in New York or Peoria, a well-spoken Russian with two higher degrees in linguistics will cheerfully tell you My byli na vecherinke i bylo fan! (We were at a party, and it was fun!). I'm not sure why this is, since Russian has many perfectly good words to describe various kinds of fun. My theory is that, first, Russians pick it up because Americans use it constantly (for Americans, everything is fun, from shopping to sex) and, second, because it puts in one simple, easily pronounced word a number of concepts that are expressed by different words and expressions in Russian.

For example: Let's do this just for fun! (Davaite sdelayem eto prosto radi udovolstviya!), or I said that in fun (Ya eto skazala v shutku), or He's fun to be with (S nim vecelo, s nim ne soskuchishsya - literally, with him you never get bored). Zabavno means fun in the sense of funny, entertaining, amusing. Ya videl ochen zabavny film (I saw a very funny film.)

The most common verb you use for having fun in Russian is razvlekatsya, which can be translated as "to be amused, to have a good time, to entertain oneself." To my ear it's this last whisper of connotation that differentiates razvlekatsya from "to have fun." In English, having fun can be a passive activity: You sit on your couch and have fun watching TV. In Russian you'd be more likely to describe that pleasure as mne bylo veselo. Razvlekatsya implies that you are entertaining yourself - it's a more creative process. On takoi chudak! Sam stroit sebe samolyot. Tak on razvlekayetsya. (He's such an oddball! He's building himself an airplane. That's how he has a good time.)

Another way to have fun is veselitsya. My tak veselilis, chto razbudili sosedei! (We had such a good time that we woke up the neighbors!) Rasslabitsya can mean to relax tense muscles, but it can also mean "to relax and have a good time," usually with the help of something alcoholic. Vchera vecherom moi muzh passlablyalsya s druzyami. Ya ne mogu ego uprekat - on mnogo i napryazheno rabotayet - no segodnya on stradayet s pokhmelya. (Last night my husband kicked back with his friends. I can't give him a hard time - he's been working a lot, and there's pressure at the office - but today he's got a hangover.) If we increase the wattage from kick back to let it rip, you can use the word gulyat, which is having fun with lots of alcohol: Posle podpisaniya kontrakta oni gulyali po-chyornomu tri dnya. (After signing the contract, they went on a real binge for three days.)

Other slang expressions for having a rip-roaring good time are otvyazyvatsya, otryvatsya, ottopyritsya, and ottyagivatsya. All are cheerfully nonstandard, mostly youth slang, and totally inappropriate for what are called in Russian svetskie razgovory - civilized conversation. Mne tak nuzhno bylo otdokhnut. Ya poyekhal v Antaliyu i ottyanulsya po polnoi programme. Potratil za odin vecher tysyachu baksov, ne znayu na chto, I prosnulsya v drugom gorode. Vo ottyag! (I really needed a break. So I went to Antalya and really cut loose. In one evening I spent a thousand bucks, don't know on what, and I woke up in another city. Was that a bender or what?)

This is okay for the dorm room, not okay for the board room - that is, unless your business partners are childhood friends or prone to the same kind of wild partying. Or unless you think they took the thousand bucks.

Money in Our Life

Money plays an important role in people’s lives. Some may deny it and say it is not important while yet another say it is. Whatever the case may be the fact is money cannot be ignored.

There’s a popular saying money can’t buy you good health. In the current scenario good health care costs money. The pills that you consume, the healthy food stuff, medical check ups, even exercising at a gym in the proper outfits comes with a price tag attached. Hence, this phrase is not applicable to the present situation.

Another famous saying is money can’t buy love. All women crave for security and stability that is provided by wealth. No woman would willingly choose to be poor.

They might be ok initially but eventually they strive to make money and prove a point to all concerned. Most women have a sixth sense when it comes to money matters. They are not greedy but just look for someone who can provide for them

"Money plays a big role. Because we never have it" – this view of the role money plays in our life is widely heard. 53% of those surveyed believe that money is the most important thing in life, and 43% hold there are more significant things than money. As the focus group participants believe, the only clearly defined value comparable with money is health.

"Health can't be bought for any amount of money. So money is not the most important thing. If you have health, then you need money. If you don't have health, you don't need money. Right? Why does a sick man need money?"

"Health first of all, all the rest is secondary."

But health sometimes totally depends on the standard of living:

"It depends on how much money you have: if you have a lot, then you can buy health "

"Money wouldn't be so bad, but it can't buy everything. There are situations where you don't need money, but something completely different"

Many people believe that compared with Soviet times, money plays a far more significant role in contemporary life. May be under socialism people felt easier about money – there was enough for minimal needs and thinking about money was not habitual. In the new economic conditions and with substantial social stratification, you have to think about money constantly.

For us money has become a matter of concern and worries rather than an object of admiration.

But even if we state that money is not the goal in life, one has to think of it when challenged by such vital issues as education, building a family, health and so on.

"Money is education, culture. A movie ticket costs a lot now, let alone the theater. There is first of all the children, and education costs money now. It's your qualification. If they pay you, you want to work, so this is freedom."

Asked about their attitude towards rich people, 69% say they feel good or indifferent about them, with only 21% saying they dislike them. The public stance on the rich is determined by the way people explain the origin of their wealth.

The public stance on the rich is determined by the way people explain the origin of their wealth.

So, peaple basically feel sympathetic about well-off people who made their money by working hard. Other ways of making money, including certain legal ones, basically arouse a negative reaction.

Despite a positive stance on wealthy people, the opinion that "money spoils" is strongly supported.

It can spoil any man, even if he's good...

Money is not profane. It is part of the stuff of life.